Congress demands proof of ex-PM's involvement in chopper scam

New Delhi, Dec. 12 -- The Congress party said on Monday the former Prime Minister's Office (PMO) led by Manmohan Singh was being dragged into the AgustaWestland case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A day after the arrest of former Indian Air Force (IAF) chief S.P. Tyagi on Friday over his alleged involvement in the VVIP choppers deal, his lawyer N. Hariharan told the Patiala House court that it was the PMO under Singh that was involved in changing the altitude criteria of helicopters procured from AgustaWestland. The CBI says Tyagi reduced the required flying height for the choppers from 6000 metres to 4500 metres to help AgustaWestland qualify.
"The CBI and its chief, Rakesh Asthana, are basically puppets in the hands of the Narendra Modi government. Neither Tyagi nor his lawyer have given this in writing that Dr Singh's PMO was involved in the scam. If the CBI has concrete proof, then Asthana needs to stand up and say so," said Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
CBI officials said investigations revealed that the former Air chief, along with his cousin Sanjeev alias Julie Tyagi and advocate Gautam Khaitan, entered into a consultancy deal with middlemen in 2004. CBI investigators said that there was concrete proof that Tyagi had, during his tenure as Air Chief, met officials from AgustaWestland.
However, on Saturday, Tyagi claimed that the change of specifications was a "collective decision involving many departments, including the then PMO."
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party accused the Congress party of trying to obstruct the probe.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "When A.K. Antony was the defence minister in the UPA government, he had admitted that there were several people in India who had accepted bribes in the choppers deal. In a 225-page judgment, a Milan appellate court had also named Manmohan Singh. These are clear facts. If the Congress has nothing to hide, then they must let the law take its course."
Patra claimed that it was Giuseppe Orsi, former chief executive officer of Finmeccanica- AgustaWestland's parent company-who had paid top Congress leaders in India to secure the Rs3,600 crore chopper deal. "After Orsi was caught, he had in fact also asked for the Italian ambassador to call Manmohan Singh's office to warn him about the probe," Patra added citing the 225-page judgment by the Milan Appellate Court.
Published by HT Syndication with permission from MINT.